Our Opinion: Many happy returns and more shopping on tap

Itís the thought that counts, but it sure would be nice if some people did a little more thinking before they bought gifts.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday usually duke it out for busiest shopping days of the year, but the day after Christmas isnít far behind. People arenít out at the mall to work off Christmas dinner.

According to National Retail Federationís 2012 holiday returns survey, more than 65 percent of those surveyed said they didnít have to return any gifts last year. Of course, that means about 35 percent did return a gift. About three-quarters of the returns were clothes. Wrong size? Wrong color? Just plain ugly?

Sometimes itís worth it to fight the traffic and wait in line. You want to exchange an item for something similar. If you wait too long, that item could be out of stock. Besides, you have the day off. When will you have the time to go to the store again?

If you gave a gift card, youíre safe ó sort of. According to TowerGroup, $43 billion in gift cards have gone unused since 2005. You can give it, but that doesnít mean it will be used.

Today there are sales of Christmas decorations. If you donít act quickly, you may not get those lights you want to hang next year for half the price. Wrapping paper should be a bargain today as well. Or maybe thereís a Christmas knickknack you can get a deal on. The possibilities are endless.

Youíre also probably keeping an eye out ó or should be ó for your next credit card statement. There have been high-profile breaches of information of Target and Adobe customers recently. Identity thieves take advantage wherever and whenever they can, so check your statements carefully to make sure you bought the stuff they say you bought. Report any fraudulent activity immediately. Most companies will forgive fraudulent charges if you report them as soon as you spot them.

Thatís good for us in the short term, but in the long run those fraudulent charges lead to higher interest rates for everyone. Weíd like to see as much effort put into catching identity thieves as there is in catching drug dealers.

Credit-card data theft increased 50 percent from 2005 to 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. There are about 11.5 million identity fraud victims in the United States every year. Global credit and debit card fraud hit a record $11.27 billion last year.

Scammers seem to take delight in taking advantage of people this time of year. Be wary of any phone calls telling you that you won this or that and all you have to do to claim your prize is to recite your Social Security number. Not a good idea.

Page 2 of 2 - Donít give out personal information over the phone or online unless you know to whom youíre giving the information. Those who would ruin your credit rating are pretty clever and come up with all sorts of ways to cheat.

As the year comes to an end many of us will make resolutions. Perhaps for 2014 being a more selective shopper should be one of our goals.